5 Small House Plans for Utilizing Storage Space

by Rachel Moshman on January 29, 2015

Rachel Moshman

About the Author

Rachael Moshman is a lifelong Florida resident but hates the heat. She holds a BA in psychology and an MA in education with focuses in early childhood, infant/toddler development, and special needs. She has written for a variety of parenting magazines across the United States and Canada. In addition to her husband and daughter, she lives with two cats and a mannequin named Vivian. She is a magazine junky, owns too many shoes, and collects tons of recipes that she never attempts to make.

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WhatToExpect.com supports Word of Mom as a place to share stories and highlight the many perspectives and experiences of pregnancy and parenting. However, the opinions expressed in this section are those of individual writers and do not reflect the views of Heidi Murkoff of the What to Expect brand.

It's possible to come up with small house plans for expanding your storage space. My husband owned a tiny house when I met him. It was less than 1,000 square feet total, including the garage and laundry room. It had exactly one closet in the whole house. We had to get creative with our storage solutions! Here are some of the things we did:

1. Install shelves and cabinets. We added shelves and cabinets to every room, including the bathroom. The laundry room and garage both had walls of shelves. We put items in bins to store on the shelves. Label everything to help you stay organized. Return items to their designated spot immediately after use to keep clutter to a minimum.

2. Purchase furniture with built-in storage. Look for coffee tables and end tables with drawers attached. We found great ottomans that doubled as storage cubes. They were also useful for extra seating.

3. Double up. Store items you don't use often inside other seldom-used belongings. We live in Florida and rarely needed winter clothing, so we stored our sweaters in suitcases. Seldom-used kitchen gadgets were kept in a basket on top of the fridge.

4. Scale back. There simply isn't room to be a pack rat in a small home. Cutting back on belongings is necessary to avoid looking like an episode of "Hoarders" was taped at your home. A good rule of thumb is every time you bring a new item into the home, you get rid of one that you don't really need.

5. Go under the bed. I always tell my daughter not to shove stuff under her bed, but it was a necessity in our tiny house. Small house plans require using every available inch of space. We bought clear plastic bins that fit perfectly under the bed.

What are your tips for keeping organized in small spaces? Share in the comments below!

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